Feel Good
by The Milo Train
Summary: This is my first official story on FanFiction as well as my first Gorillaz story. I have always praised the band and all of its fictional characters. I also thought that Noodle and 2D would be a good couple for some reason I can't seem to explain, so I may put them together if I can figure out a way to do so. Hope you enjoy and let me know what you think!
1. Chapter 1: FedEx

"Dent-face! Where is the sodding guitarist?"

"You didn't hire one."

Murdoc eyes widened. He returned his attention to the men outside the door to the room.

"Right… I'll have to speak to you lot in a bit."

Stuart Pot and Russel Hobbs sat in a dressing room, playing a video game. Murdoc had forced them into his new band, Gorillaz, and was attempting a live show… Scheduled for tonight. Due to the narcotics and alcohol he consumed the few nights before, he was completely oblivious to the fact that they hadn't gotten a guitarist.

Murdoc walked over to 2D and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him up from the couch.

"So you didn't feel inclined to inform me of the fact that we don't have A SODDING GUITARIST!"

2D's wide, black eyes registered no trace of concern as they were incapable of doing so, but his eyebrows drew back in an attempt to convey his fear.

"You, you was drunk, 'n me 'n Russel thought you knew we was doin' a show tonight." 2D blabbered, his cockney accent cracking.

"Yeah man, lay off D, he got nothin' to do with this. Its yo' fault, spendin' that night gassed outta yo' mind." Russel had stopped looking at the TV and narrowed his white eyes at Murdoc, whose posture sank a little.

Russel had dropped the game controller and gripped Murdoc's wrist, allowing 2D to slink down to the couch, eyebrows still drawn back in fear. Murdoc stared at Russel, clearly fearful of the large man's next action. Russel sat back down too, eyes returning to the television set and preparing to un-pause the game once 2D was ready to step back in.

"Well what the bloody 'ell do we do now? I set up a show sh'eduled in five minutes and we don't have a person to play guitar. Although I s'pose I could, I am qualified 'n all."

"No you's not, I saws you try to play All Along the Watchtower on Guitar hero, you missed every note."

"SHUT UP FACE-ACHE!"

2D clapped his hand over his mouth, seeming to think he wasn't saying things of his own accord. His eyes returned to the television and he began to play again, hoping that Murdoc would go do something else. He was proved right as Murdoc began to pace the room, hoping for a solution.

Murdoc, a Satanist who had birthed many illegitimate children by this point, wanted to create a band because these of these illegitimate children. He decided to settle for the logic "I had them, wish I hadn't." However, Murdoc still wished to play music because he needed money for his serious pop tart addiction. This prompted Murdoc to form the Gorillaz, grabbing 2D as a singer and front man, and Russel as a drummer.

2D had suffered two eight-ball fractures, an extremely rare medical condition, in which the eyeballs are knocked back inside the head. Murdoc had inflicted these upon 2D, hitting him with a car and throwing him out of a car on two separate occasions. This left 2D with two black abysmal eyes, perfect to catch a person's eye and even more perfect for public attraction. Coupled with his purple hair, his eyes made him bizarre enough to be a great "pretty boy." Murdoc grabbed him as a singer and keyboardist.

Russel had suffered as much as 2D, being discriminated against not only for being an African American in the 80's, but from accusations of being possessed from an early age. After a complex exorcism, his dead friends eventually possessed him after a school shooting only Russel had survived. Murdoc then proceeded to track him down.

Russel and Murdoc had worked the last few months composing the songs of their first album, self-titled Gorillaz. 2D stayed out of it, dubbed too much of a dullard to create the music.

Murdoc continued to pace around the room, grabbing a bottle of whiskey at one point and taking occasional swigs. A knock sounded at the other room door, which led to the outside allyway.

"Package for the cast of… the Gorillaz?"

"Puss-spewing bloodgut in hell, why are we getting a package now?"

Murdoc stomped to the door, angry for the interruption of his drinking. Although it wasn't helping his current problem, Murdoc was still upset that he was deprived of his poison for a single moment. He yanked the door open, scaring a timid little man. Upon seeing the green, growling face of the bassist for Gorillaz, he ran from the door, dropping a clipboard for FedEx.

Murdoc picked up the clipboard, signing "Slag Bollockson" in a signature slot before throwing it down in the direction of the man running.

"Tosser." Murdoc spat.

He then grabbed the FedEx box, dropping it on the ground again upon feeling its weight. Murdoc scowled at the package in disgust before leaning in the doorway.

"Fat face, get your arse out here."

Russel emerged a few moments later, glaring at Murdoc.

"Well? Aren't you goin' to pick it up?" Murdoc pointed at the package.

Russel picked the crate up with ease, bringing it inside the dressing room, still looking at Murdoc with disgust. He dropped it behind the couch and returned to the game with 2D. Stuart leaned back over the couch, staring at the crate.

"Wha' do ya reckon that is, Muds?"

"No idea face-ache, maybe it's some of those action figures from before." Murdoc grinned at 2D, making shaking motion with his hands. The nervous man returned to the video game with a gulp.

"Damn it, Russ. Ya aren't supposed to play without me!"

"Twenty ta two, it really make much of a difference D?"

Murdoc looked around the dressing room for some scissors, eventually settling on a box-cutter he found behind a lamp. He slipped the knife through the tape, unaware that 2D had stopped playing again, interested in whatever happened to be in the box. It was about two feet tall and one foot wide. Murdoc pulled back the cardboard flaps and looked inside, only seeing the Styrofoam peanut pellets.

"Muds, wha's in the-"

Peanut pellets exploded from the box as a small face rose and tiny hands cupped the edges of a box. A small Japanese girl of about ten had emerged from the crate, causing each member of the band to stare at each other, and then back at the girl.

The little girl began to yell at them in Japanese, displaying a huge, toothy grin.

"Wha the bloody 'ell are you?" Murdoc stared in disbelief, his intoxicated mind trying to make sense of this.

"Aww, she's so cute." 2D and Russel had returned the little girl's smile with affectionate eyes. The girl continued to happily yell at them in Japanese although she seemed to understand that the language wasn't understood. She silenced herself a few moments later, turning to Murdoc and proudly displaying a poster to him.

Murdoc picked it up and his eyes widened in further disbelief. The poster was plastered with Japanese symbols and the images of Murdoc himself, 2D, and Russel. Murdoc sighed as he remembered sending out a notice for the band needing a guitarist.

"Wha's it say Muds, can we keep 'er?"

"Keeping a kids not like havin' a dog Tosspot." He then turned his attention back to the Asian girl."You're our bloody guitarist? Wha' the bloody 'ell are we supposed to do with a ten-year old girl who cant speak a lick of English?"

The Japanese girl frowned. She then hopped out of the box and grabbed a guitar from the wall. She proceeded out the door and onto the stage the Gorillaz were to play on.

"Wha' do you think you're doin' girl? I got that guitar from Lou Reed!"

Russel and 2D giggled furiously, following Murdoc to the doorframe and eyeing the little girl curiously.

The Japanese girl bowed, her straight black hair falling down around her head. The crowd was very confused but no person proceeded to ask and say anything, simply watching what was to happen next. The girl began to strum the guitar cords, producing a calm tune that built up into a furious, wailing solo. The men and women stared at her in disbelief, mimicking the faces of the Gorillaz standing to the side of the stage. Once satisfied that she had proved herself, the Japanese girl dropped the guitar onto the stage with a thud.

"Noodle."

The girl walked off stage, prompting a huge screaming applause from the crowd. She walked into the dressing room and flopped onto the couch, picking up 2D's controller and raising her score higher than Russel's.

2D and Russel looked over at Murdoc before walking back to the console, 2D grabbing a new controller and plugging in. Russel ruffled Noodle's hair and she grinned back at him in kind. 2D also patted her on the shoulder, welcoming her to the band. When the girl turned to look at Murdoc, he returned a weak smile before walking out the door and addressing the concert officials.


	2. Chapter 2: The Wind Began to Howl

Her fingers stung with the plucking of guitar strings. Her ears were deafened with the roar of wind. And her mind was consumed with the meaning of the song she had written, its lyrics hauntingly sung by an imprisoned specter. Noodle understood this wasn't real, it was the fiction she had wanted.

_Windmill, windmill for the night. Turn forever hand in hand. _

Stuart looked miserable. Noodle caught occasional glances of him under her mop of straight, indigo hair. His black, gaping eyes captured a sense of longing and despair that only he could provide as he looked upon her and the windmill. He looked upon paradise with a sadness that couldn't be explained, his now teal hair matted and stray. It wasn't hunger, or greed, nothing horrible or putrid. He longed for it, the windmill, miserable for so long in the prison of debauchery.

Noodle knew in the back of her mind that this wasn't so. It wasn't true. This was only a video, a piece of fiction designed to make the audience think rather than go back to mindless… feel good consumption. But 2D made it seem so real, locked up in the tower behind a screen of glass, his friends behind him and out of reach. Noodle had never imagined that what she had created would affect her so terribly.

She began to speak the lyrics without a sound, allowing 2D's voice to portray the melodies while she thought. Her hair blew back and forth in the wind, the grass around the rocky edge billowing in the warmth of the golden sun above the clouds. A windmill turned behind her, seemingly the source of energy for the floating island. Noodle flew past the tower, continuing to play chords on her guitar.

Noodle had written Feel Good Inc. during her time alone at Kong. The band mates had separated for three years and Noodle was left devastated. She departed to Japan, simply unclear about how she should proceed with her life after Gorillaz. Noodle remembered blurred images of her childhood before arriving in the FedEx crate, trained in martial arts and psychologically conditioned with code words. The time spent in Japan triggered faint memories, but she only found true clarity upon hearing a code word on accident in a restaurant. Memories flooded back, showing her the supersoldier program and remembering the deaths of every subject besides her. Noodle also gained more practical abilities, like the sudden comprehension of English. Noodle then left Japan, ready to pursue her goals.

She came back to a family in disarray. 2D had gone to work for his father and take part in Tibetan independence campaigns; he was the doing the best out of the three, trying to do good works. Russel suffered a mental breakdown, as the spirits that inhabited him grew restless without musical release. Russel attempted a solo album for at least one of the alleged years, but to no avail. He had become very distant, even now, with the band doing so well. Even the Satanist bassist, Murdoc was not left without scars, likely bilge drinking in the time after Noodle's departure.

Her return was celebrated most by 2D, as he was the first to be found and contacted by her. Stuart happened to be preparing a safe house with his "Gorillaz" money in preparation for a zombie/whale apocalypse. It wasn't too difficult to track down a man designing a floating island to escape from whales. Noodle always loved Stuart for his ridiculous fears. Russel was like a father to her, but she and Stuart had a special "Zen" bond, as she liked to call it. Although, she couldn't describe it as such without giggling.

Noodle glanced at 2D again, one more time before the song ended. He saw his gaze at her and she immediately turned back, her chest struck with a pang of an unexplainable sort. She hated seeing him like that. She wished he could be on the island with her right now, sailing away from the tower, away from the testament to human indulgence. The more and more she told herself it wasn't real, that Stuart was not truly upset, the more she wondered why this affected her as much as it did.

The song ended, the windmill climbing higher above the clouds as it left the media men to conclude the piece. Noodle sighed, smiling. 2D would be okay, as would the rest of the band. And now she was allowed to do as she wished, think whatever she wanted. Noodle had negotiated this time with Murdoc, using the DARE video as leverage. About a week ago, Noodle had lost a bet to Murdoc regarding the popularity of a particular song in her album, called DARE. Murdoc had her sing and perform in a humiliating music video, forcing her to dance in front of a giant head that suddenly comes to life and begins to sing. Now Murdoc, being nicer since the return of the band, allowed Noodle to enjoy some time on the windmill island before he was to sell it to the highest bidder.

Noodle stood from the edge of the island, settling her acoustic guitar into its case with care. She then began the short walk to the windmill, humming the tune of DARE along the way. All the songs of Demon Days had inner meanings, most of them bad. After her seeing 2D in the position that he was, she wanted to sing a happy song. The meaning of DARE was to show the only respite in the human experience, the clarity and enjoyment in dance and music. The song aspired to evoke happiness and movement, and this was exactly what it did in Noodle, causing her to skip her way to the windmill in accordance with the breeze swaying through the grass.

Reaching the windmill, she gazed at its splendor. So many ideas and questions filled her mind about what it was, and what it could mean. But the most prominent feeling she could see when watching the building was peace. Time stood still on the island, like sand preserved in an hourglass. It always ends, always, but the memories are there, like the sand of an hourglass.

Noodle stared at the windmill for a long while, deciding there was no rush for her to put away the guitar she held. She finally pushed herself though the open doorway, stowing the brown case next to a crate of parachutes. She smiled as the case knocked a cardboard box over, spilling dozens of cups of ramen noodles onto wooden planks. Noodle selected one and heated water over a pan. She examined the box while the water boiled, finding a note.

_Enjoy baby girl. –Russel and D_

Noodle blushed, a great wide grin spreading over her face. She slurped noodles with gusto, remembering her namesake and her eyes tearing up with nostalgia. Not a bad time to reminisce, she thought, savoring the salty broth.

She remembered shipping herself to them in a FedEx box and sticking her tongue at Murdoc when she proved to be an amazing guitarist. And she remembered 2D describing her very first guitar solo as "200 demons screaming in Arabic."

Russel had been extremely protective over the years, especially against Murdoc, acting as a father Noodle never had while allowing her enough freedom to develop her own understanding of life. Hence, Demon Days. Although the Gorillaz were somewhat… odd… they were very wise in certain ways. Noodle incorporated a lot of aspects of her family into the album, displaying a multitude of themes to their audience.

Russel and 2D both did their best to protect her from Murdoc when he wasn't in his right mind. There were a lot of days when Murdoc went to the Winnie and came back more intoxicated than thought humanly possible coupled with a group of women. He was never a bad man, Noodle knew that. He had suffered in his childhood, emerging with several addictions and a deep-seated hate of his father. She and Murdoc had been getting along much better since she came back, working together to perfect the songs and ideas she had sketched. He never gave up the drinking, but seemed to learn the concept of moderation. He only got drunk away from Kong Studios, and only on certain occasions.

2D had changed as well, less confident than he once was. Russel told her his change in hair color was indicative of his mood. Apparently the change from purple to a deep cyan was rooted in Noodle's disappearance and the break of the band as a whole. Noodle sighed as she saw the nights spent with 2D when she was ten years old, watching zombie movies and eventually falling asleep in his lap. She still confided in him, and her disappearance seemed to do nothing other than strengthen their bond.

Noodle frowned, finishing her third cup of noodles and tossing it back in the crate. The more she remembered her family, the more she felt alone on this island. Away from those she cared about. Human interaction is almost like an addiction, a healthy one of course but with debilitating effects of withdrawal. She felt this now, like an ache to go see them again.

Noodle walked from the windmill, the sunset beginning in the northeast. The billowing wind once again pushed her purple hair over her eyes, hiding her expression the same way as during the music videos. She sat at the edge of the island, contemplating while humming a song from Demon Days, El Manana.

The wind deafened her ears, but failed to disguise one distinctive sound. Rotors could be heard in the distance and Noodle narrowed her eyes. Two black helicopters were flying towards the island, gatling guna mounted on their undersides.

**Authors Note: Hi everyone, I hope you're enjoying this. I honestly thought I did a bad job on the first chapter, I didn't know where to start and I felt kinda uninspired that day and merp. I feel like this chapter is much better, enjoy and Chapter 3 will come soon.**


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